2013 William Knuttel Cabernet Sauvignon D. Rafanelli Vineyard Terraces Block Dry Creek Valley 750 ml

Dry Creek’s Legendary Cabernet Site

Bill Knuttel is not only known as one of the fathers of California Pinot Noir, but also as a versatile winemaker with a nose for top-flight fruit. In 2012, he jumped at a rare chance to buy Cabernet Sauvignon from the manicured terraces at the legendary D. Rafanelli Vineyard in Dry Creek Valley. An opportunity to purchase more of that stellar fruit in 2013—a season that Knuttel himself has called the “vintage of the decade.” The 2013 William Knuttel Cabernet Sauvignon D. Rafanelli Vineyard Terraces Block hails from the low-yielding Cabernet rows that supply the Rafanellis’ own tiny-production Cabernet. Wine Enthusiast gave Knuttel’s Dry Creek Cabernet 93 points, calling it “robust yet balanced” with “both structure and grace.” 

Alberto Rafanelli emigrated from Italy to California in the early 1900s, settled with his family in Healdsburg, and started growing grapes. Shortly thereafter, he put up a makeshift winery and began crushing fruit and crafting wine as he had in the old country. Twenty years later, Prohibition threw a monkey wrench into the fledgling Rafanelli Winery, and Alberto’s dream was put on hold. Two decades later, Alberto’s son Americo set up shop in Dry Creek Valley.

The Rafanellis have since become known for their stellar head-trained Zinfandel, but the family also tends a few acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, which are planted on manicured terraces. These plants typically eke out just 2 tons per acre, but in the spring of 2012, Bill Knuttel learned that the Rafanelli terraces were carrying nearly 30 percent more fruit than normal. He wasted no time in securing all he could.

What first looked like a one-off might have just been the beginning: Knuttel was able to acquire more of the same low-yielding terrace-grown Cabernet in 2013, the vintage that floored producers all over California as well as critics like Robert Parker, who called the season a “game-changer.” As long as the good fortune continues, we will be alongside Knuttel and the Rafanellis, offering Wine Access clients this rare Cabernet from two legends of California wine.